WILTON — The Planning Board will review an application to use a small home wind generator tower at 360 Walker Hill Road for a communication antenna for Central Maine Power smart meters. The board will convene at 7 p.m. Thursday at the town office.

CMP is proposing to put an antenna on the tower to serve the people of Wilton, said Robert Gashlin, of Tilson Government Service, a consulting firm from Falmouth hired by CMP for this project.

The meters will talk to the antenna, which will then transmit information on, he said.

The antenna weighs about 15 pounds and is about 33 inches in diameter. It would be attached at 80 feet up on the 100-foot tower, he said.

A permit is needed for the change of use from a small home wind generator to a commercial communication antenna, Paul Montague, Wilton’s code enforcement officer, said. It is also nonconforming now as it doesn’t meet current setback standards and is close to the property line.

When the tower was built there were no rules and no permits were needed, he said. There’s nothing in the town’s file about the tower, which he estimates is nearing 12 years old. It’s currently not used for wind generation, he said.

“The tower won’t change in dimension. They’re just hanging a small antenna off it,” he said.

Installation of smart meters has begun in Wilton and the town office has received calls from residents with questions about them. Montague has asked the applicant to come prepared to explain the transmission, he said.

There is a CMP smart meter antenna on the cellphone tower on Walker Hill on the Jay side of the road, he said.

Gashlin declined comment about that antenna or whether antennas would be needed for each town.

In other business, the board will review an application to permit a high impact home occupation, snow plowing and storage lot at 134 Temple Road.

Alvin DaCosta is looking to expand his landscaping business with the addition of a snow plowing service, Montague said. He needs to store sand for that purpose.

The service is considered a high-impact home occupation as compared to something like a CPA office where only one or two customers a day visit versus trucks coming and going with sand for the snow plowing service, he said.

The board will also review an after-the-fact permit to operate a home day care business at 15 School St. as submitted by Brenda Rollins.

Time permitting, the board will discuss items from the town’s comprehensive review, including clarifying the requirements for small and large subdivisions.

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